Never Gonna Leave This Bed
by Stacymc2012
Summary: Sophie finds out some news that has her breaking inside. She's afraid to tell Nate. Because of what he had already lived before with his son Sam. She would only be a constant reminder of that horrible time in his life and a sick repeat. -Possible TBC.
1. Chapter 1

**So, I wrote this quite a while ago, it was based off the song ****_Never Gonna Leave This Bed by Maroon 5_****. This fic can be a stand alone, but I could also add the other two or three chapters that were meant to be with it. Let me know what you guys think, and I hope you enjoy. Also, you'll notice that I decided to change my writing style in this one, please bear with me, I wanted to see what it was like to write in present tense. (I find it very hard!) I own nothing.**

**Enjoy!**

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She inhales a shaky breath, trying hard to calm the tears that quickly fall from her eyes. The brunette stares down at her shaking hands and terrible thoughts plague her already bloated mind. She is afraid. Afraid of what the future would bring; afraid of their reactions; afraid of so much more that she couldn't possibly bear to dwell on it at the moment. A sob escapes her trembling lips before she can stop it and her chin begins to quiver. She leans forward and hides her face in her hands and begins to cry into them for what seems like the billionth time that week since she found out.

It is nearly ten minutes later before she hears the heavy footsteps coming up the stairs outside in the hallway. She knows he is approaching, so quickly she wipes away the tears from her face and tries to compose herself to her usual way of doing it; trying her best to look absolutely fine like she did before. She is a grifter after all; she could do this kind of thing in her sleep. However, this man... This man that would soon walk through that front door from the downstairs bar...

He could read her like an open book. He could see through her like he saw through a clear glass. He could cut through her and get to the heart of the problem without her even realizing what he was doing. That was his power with her. And as much as it frightens her, she is okay with it. She just wasn't sure if she was ready to divulge this important piece of information. Maybe she should try and put if off for a bit longer?

"Okay, we've got some red wine for us; chicken Alfredo with angel hair pasta. How does that sound?" He now stands in front of her as he sets down a large tray for them on the coffee table.

She had been so lost in thought she didn't even hear him enter. The other three members of their team and makeshift family had gone out for drinks while the couple decided to have a date night at home. She fights the urge to look up at him and blurt everything out, however she knows she can't do that. She hears him speak again, something about napkins, and then watches as he walks into the kitchen.

"Looks lovely, Nate," she calls to him. Her voice is slightly strained from the knot in her throat, which she could only wish would disappear. She forces a weak, practiced smile onto her marginally paler than usual face and waits for him to return. When he does, Sophie turns and presses a tender kiss on his cheek lovingly. She smiles at him again and leans closer to him, wrapping an arm around his.

"Are you hungry?" He questions her as he turns to his left to look at her face, a smile still on his façade, and then he notices it. He sees her eyes. He sees how broken they looked. A look that hadn't been there recently...

Food forgotten and pushed aside, Nate cups her left cheek with his right hand, "Sophie? What's wrong?"

He can see the storm of emotions and the tornado of thoughts that pass behind those beautiful, deep brown orbs of hers... Then she finally breaks in front of someone, allowing the tears to well up and roll down her cheeks freely. Nate isn't too sure how to react to the sudden spring of feelings coming from her. Definitely wasn't PMS... Not allowing his confusion to cloud his ability to comfort her, the mastermind takes her into his arms and rubs her back. "Sophie? C'mon, talk to me? What's wrong?"

Her face buries into his chest the instant he hugs her. She lets out a small shaky breath, once more trying to reign over her melancholy and despair. However, this time it is much harder. She begins to cling onto him for dear life, biting back a loud sob and silently allowing her tears and her cries to be seep into his shirt. Nate carries on in rubbing her back and holding her as close to him as possible, waiting for her to compose herself when she was ready.

"Shh, everything's going to be fine, Soph. It's going to be okay..." He rocks her still.

She shivers against him as she abruptly pulls away from him and wipes her now red face. Sophie composes herself as much as she can and her face contorts in emotional distress. She is still pressed into his side though, and his arm is still around her shoulder, rubbing her left arm soothingly.

"I'm... Sorry, Nate." The thief whispers to him very lowly. She didn't trust her voice at the moment.

"Don't apologize for that, Soph, you know you don't have to..." He kisses her temple and then whispers to her just as lowly, "When you're ready, tell me what's wrong, okay? No rush."

She nods and leans her head against his shoulder and closes her tired eyes to gather her thoughts. He presses his cheek against her head as she thinks.

Her voice breaks through their tense silence moments later, so lowly he nearly misses it. "Nate..." She murmurs.

"I'm here. What is it, Sophie?" He kisses her hair and keeps her as close as he can again.

"I'm dying, Nate," Sophie is forced to swallow the convulsive cry that wanted so badly to break out of her lungs, up her throat and out her mouth.

The world around him freezes completely. Then it begins to shatter into millions of little pieces. He feels the blood that courses through his veins turn to ice and then morph into lead. He can't move a single muscle, nor can he emit a single sound from his now dry throat and mouth. All he can see is Sophie's beautiful, broken eyes. The eyes that had rendered him incapable of speech when he was first held captive by her. Eyes that bore into his own during the whispered confessions of love between them. Eyes that had never shown more happiness than they did when they got married. Eyes that welled up with tears when they had decided they were going to try for a child. "_I'm dying, Nate."_ Those eyes were dying right before him.

"N-Nate..." She whispers out, her breath catches in her throat as her head begins pounding from the amount of strain on it from crying. He stares at her in shock, eyes completely blank, yet displayed every disconsolate, hurt, angry feeling out there. She needs him to say something. Anything. She needs a reaction. "Please... Say something..." Tears well up in her eyes again and she tries hard not to cry once more. She had cried so much in the last two weeks that she had known.

"How long have you known?" His voice is raspy, shattered, much like the world around him. Nate turns to his side and cups her face with both is hand, making quick work of wiping her tears away with his warm thumbs.

"Tw-two weeks..." She admits and the tears begin falling more profusely.

"God..." He thinks back to every moment he spent with his wife in the past two weeks. She had carried this burden with her the entire time...

"Any other questions?" Her voice is low still as her heart pounds harder and harder. She's afraid he would turn her away now because of this... Because of what he had already lived before with his son Sam. She would only be a constant reminder of that horrible time in his life and a sick repeat.

He silently strokes the side of her face, "Do you... Know how long you have?" He didn't even know what was killing her. That would be his next question.

"Three months... If I'm lucky." She cannot bear to look at him any longer and bows her head. She wonders if she will ever run out of all these tears.

"What's killing you, Sophie?" The question is terribly blunt, but how else is he going to put it? How else was he going to ask his wife a question that would plague him for a very long time if he didn't ask? He realizes that three months wasn't very long. His mind swirls and Nate internally swore they would make the best of it.

"It's not... Important, Nate..." She says and leans up to place a soft kiss on his lips.

Against her lips, he whispers her real name, a single tear rolling down his own cheeks, "...Tell me, please... I need to know."

"Please Nate..." She pauses as to not sob loudly, "Don't make me tell you..." She can't stop the tear that rolls down her face.

Unable to bear the sight of his wife crying any more, he pulls her to him gently, kissing her forehead then presses her into his chest. "Alright, shh.. It's alright..." He swallows when he hears her beginning to sob once more. Nate forces his eyes closed to keep himself from losing it as well, "You... Just tell me when you're ready..." If she becomes ready to tell him...

Her grip tightens around her husband's midsection and she whispers while trying to recompose, "H-how will I tell-tell the others...?"

Nate lovingly rubs her back, "We'll work something out."

"They need to know, Nate."

"I know Soph, I know – You're not alone anymore in this, you know that. We'll work this out."

"And- Parker... She... She won't know how to handle... This," she isn't able to stop the sob that escapes, but swallows the rest. She needs to get this out. "Y-you... You'll need to... Keep watch of her, Nate... Please, promise me!"

"I promise, Sophie, I promise you."

There needs to be some sort of treatment for her, there had to be a chance that she would live, that she could fight whatever it was that was killing her slowly. He lifts her chin to look into her brown eyes, she has calmed considerably now. Their dinner is cold, but it didn't matter, it isn't like either of them has an appetite left. He swallows and lets go of her as he stands. Once he's up, he leans down and picks up the frail, shaking woman.

"Nate, what are you doing?" Comes her confused, thickly-accented voice.

Nate is unable to help himself as he kisses her forehead and whispers, "Let's go upstairs, we'll be more comfortable in bed." He just needs to hold his wife, the love of his life now.

Sophie nods and leans into Nate's chest as he walks them up the spiral staircase to their bedroom. Once upstairs, Nate sits her down on the bed and gently removes her heels and then moves up and places a loving kiss on her nose. Sophie smiles at the affection he displays; behind closed doors, Nate is the most loving, caring man she had ever met, he just wasn't good at displaying it in public very often. His fingers move down to her button-down blouse and he slowly begins unbuttoning her blouse, knowing she wore a tank top under.

Slowly, Sophie takes her arms out of the blouse and he sets it aside on an armchair near the bed. He helps her stand and removes her skirt slowly then grabs her pajama pants and helps her put them on. "Stay here for a moment," he moves over to the bed and draws back the covers and then lays her down. He undresses himself as well and puts on his own pajamas and lays down beside her.

Sophie turns to her side so she can look at him; Nate is lying on his side beside her as well, the two don't say a word as they stare into each other's eyes, everything needing to be said is being said in silence. He brings his hand up to her face and gently lays it on her cheek; his thumb grazes over her cheekbone in admiration. She feels as a shiver runs down her spine and she smiles a bit and opens her mouth and whispers, "I love you so much, Nathan Ford." She leans in and places a soft kiss on his lips.

Their faces are just inches away now and Nate nods as he leans in as well and whispers against her soft lips, "I love you too, so very much..." He whispers her name and kisses her once more.

Sophie swallows and closes her eyes, feeling exhaustion beginning to take over as adrenaline levels drop in her body. She sighs and leans in to bury her face into his neck while his arm drapes around her. He hears her whisper lowly, "Nate, hold on tight. And please... Don't let go."

He swallows hard and nods slowly, "I won't, baby, I promise I won't."

Sophie instantly falls asleep in the arms of her husband, in the safety of his arms.

The next morning, when Sophie wakes with a start, she shivers at the coolness of not waking with her husband beside her. She makes her way downstairs and the place is completely empty and she realizes that Nate is gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**I want to thank you all for the brilliant response to this fic! I absolutely appreciate it so much more than you'll ever understand! - I was going to continue this but wasn't quite sure until I received a rather inspiring PM today which gave my muse quite a kick in the butt! So, this chapter is for Zee-Zee Magee. There should be maybe 5 more chapters? - Anyway! Enjoy, my darlings!**

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Sophie stared blankly at the gray, hospital ceiling above, unable to stop the tears that were slipping from the corner of her eyes. She had been in the hospital for the last month and a half. After that morning, when she woke and didn't find Nate beside her, her health took a dangerous decline and she got worse quicker. As a result, she had been forced to tell the team on her own and she was more than sure a few weeks of her life had been shaved off at the sound of Parker's distraught cries, pleading her that it was all a lie.

Sophie had to admit though, she didn't blame Nate. She could never blame her husband. It sounded ridiculous, but the thing was she had seen that coming. She couldn't lie to herself, when she found out she was dying, she couldn't tell herself that Nate wouldn't leave. Considering how he had taken his son's death, would she be wrong to think that losing his wife would be just as bad?

Well, considering his reaction and the fact that he wasn't there the following morning proves that perhaps it would be just as bad to lose his wife like he did his son. She was afraid. She was afraid of what would happen once she was gone. What he would do. She was afraid of the downward spiral he would go into again, the one they had just barely managed to save him from. She was afraid he would go looking for answers in the bottom of a bottle of whiskey or vodka again. She was afraid it would tear their "family" apart and that nobody would be there to put them back together. Sophie was sure she would have sounded full of herself to anybody else, but they were her legitimate fears and she need not justify them to anybody.

She swallowed hard and tried to sit up in the hospital bed that, at this point, had an imprint of her body in the mattress considering how much time she'd spent laying in it. Wiping her face shakily, she turned to see Parker standing at the entrance of her room. Parker tried her best to keep her distance from Sophie since she found out. Sophie wasn't offended, she understood. For the sake of self-preservation, Parker was trying to stay away, as if that would make it all easier. A lot like Nate was trying to do; though he wasn't around to defend himself or give his reasons, Sophie knew this was why. Parker would come by every once in a while and stay for no more than 8 minutes, and then she would leave.

Sophie hated herself. She hated herself for what she was doing to the poor girl she saw like her daughter. She hated that she couldn't fix it and take her pain away. Sophie drew in a breath when she saw Parker walk into the room for the first time.

Usually she would hang around by the door, wave sadly and speak to her from there. Never would she walk inside. She feared that if she walked inside and sat by Sophie's bed like Hardison, Eliot and even Tara did, that it would make it all too real, and she wasn't sure if she could handle that. Today was different though. Today, what she was feeling, was something that only Sophie's arms could fix. Nate was like her father, and he was gone, he couldn't handle Sophie being sick. And now Sophie was dying and it was like slowly ripping off a band-aid, every inch hurting more than the last. She had lost/was losing the second pair of people who were her parents and her heart ached in a way she never knew was possible. Hardison had told her that love wasn't supposed to hurt. That love between her and Hardison was never supposed to hurt; did that apply to every other type of love too?

Slowly, the blonde thief made her way over to Sophie and sat down on the edge of her bed, looking everywhere but at Sophie's face. Sophie's small, graceful hand laid on top of Parker's and she gave it a light squeeze and whispered, "Parker..."

Parker wasn't sure what came over her when she heard Sophie's voice but all of a sudden, a loud sob escaped her pale pink lips and she looked up at the grifter's face. It was thin, ashen, fallen, far from anything she'd ever seen Sophie look like. Her eyes had lost all their light and looked listless, her lips were chapped and the nasal oxygen mask made her look sicker than Parker dared to believe. Another sob left Parker's small frame as she leaned forward in Sophie's bed and hid her face in Sophie's shoulder as she cried.

Sophie let out a small breath she didn't know she was holding and wrapped her arms around the girl's slender figure and held her close, "Oh Parker... I'm sorry," she whispered carefully, her voice holding so much emotion.

The two lay there for a few minutes. Sophie held Parker close as she cried. Eventually, her sobs softened into slight whimpers and Sophie couldn't help but wonder how long Parker had been holding in these feelings that she finally let them out here and now. She rubbed Parker's back and when a nurse came in to say something, Sophie simply shook her head and waved her off with a small smile. The nurse, Anna, seemed to understand and turned to leave. Sophie looked down at Parker, kissing her blonde hair as her blue eyes stared off into space. She knew Parker was taking it bad, but something told her she'd never understand just how bad she was taking this... Change, for lack of a better term.

Lowly, Parker spoke in a shaky tone, "C-Can't they fix it?" She sounded like so much like a small child. Like a child who's teddy bear had just been broken and she wanted it pieced back together.

Sophie wanted nothing more in the world than to lie to her and say, "of course they can" but even she knew it'd simply hurt her more in the end. She settled for the truth because... Because Parker deserved it. "I'm sorry, Parker," she said, her voice weak but her accent thicker than honey, "They can't fix this, I'm afraid."

"What if.. What if they brought in the best doctors in the world or... Hardison could do that. Hardison, Eliot and I, and Tara, we can do anything. Would that help?" She sat up quickly, a hopeful look in her eyes.

A few tears slipped from Sophie's eyes because she couldn't hold composure any longer at seeing the hope on the girl's pale face, "They can't, darling."

It wasn't that she had given up hope; it was that - at this point - she was simply waiting to die - despite how morbid that thought sounded.

"So there's nothing we can do..." Parker muttered as she looked down at her own hands and swallowed hard, "Nothing at all we can do." She bit down on her lip. Sophie could see the little hamster wheel turning quickly in the brilliant mind of hers.

"Would balloons help?" Parker asked her suddenly.

Sophie let out a weak laugh because she had to. She was filled with so much pure innocence and love inside despite her job description and that gave Sophie a bit of hope in humanity. Parker was very special to her, and this was why. Her view of the world was quite magnified and though she couldn't express her feelings well enough for anyone else, Sophie knew that she felt things so much more deeply because her views of the world were so magnified and because of her past. This made her feel an overwhelming need to protect Parker.

"Balloons make everything, and I mean _everything_, better, Parker," she said seriously.

Parker mustered a grin, "Okay," she suddenly got out of Sophie's bed, "I'll be back."

"Where're you going?" Sophie asked but Parker was already gone.

Sophie let out a slight chuckle and laid back in bed. She knew she was only trying to cope.

A few minutes later, Parker returned with.. Well, quite a collection of balloons. So many of them, Sophie was sure she'd fly away if she were holding them outside. Sophie looked slightly shocked, "Parker, how did you manage to steal all of those balloons?"

Parker looked up at Sophie, a wide grin on her face, clearly she was proud of herself about something, "I didn't steal them. I bought them for you." She showed Sophie the receipt.

It would've sounded very stupid to anyone else, but to see that Parker had bought her balloons made her heart swell, because... Well, they'd managed to teach her that much and that meant so much to her and she was so full of pride at that moment.

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**Excuse if it was a bit OOC.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you so much for your response to the last chapter! I really appreciate it!**

**Please, bear with me? All of your questions on Nate will be answered in due time, I promise you that much. Enjoy this chapter!**

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The rest of the day, Parker spent it beside Sophie either in the bed with her or in the chair, but one thing didn't change: they watched Tom and Jerry for hours. Every so often, Sophie would drift off and fall asleep for a few hours and Parker would watch her closely, making sure her chest continued to rise and fall as it was supposed to when someone was still breathing. Parker took a breath and found herself quietly climbing into Sophie's bed as she slept and lying beside her, her eyes still plastered on Sophie to make sure she was just sleeping. Parker was afraid, very afraid. She chewed on her bottom lip while she watched her and a few tears ran again.

The thief reached over and touched Sophie's hand, shuddering at her cold it felt. Sophie shifted slightly in her sleep before her eyes fluttered open slowly, "Parker?" She whispered her voice groggy with exhaustion and sleep.

Parker sat up quickly beside Sophie, not letting go of her hand but completely missing the wince of pain that flashed on Sophie's face, "Yeah?"

"It's a bit hard to sleep.. When you feel someone staring at you," she half joked gently.

"Sorry," Parker dropped her gaze.

Sophie squeezed her small hand and shook her head, closing her eyes momentarily, "It's fine."

They were silent for a few moments, mostly because Sophie could tell that Parker had something she wanted to ask her and didn't know how. So, she allowed her to gather her thoughts and find her words, she wouldn't push her, not yet. Parker finally spoke, her voice very low as if she was afraid to pronounce the words she would say because they were some sort of a curse or something. To her they were just that though.

"Are you afraid?" She asked Sophie, looking the grifter in the eye.

"Afraid of what?" Sophie countered, though she knew exactly what Parker meant.

Parker swallowed, "You know... Of dying?"

Sophie now had an internal struggle with herself. Would she lie to her and tell her that she wasn't afraid at all, or would she tell Parker the truth and tell her that she was beyond terrified of dying and most of all, dying alone. Sophie wasn't sure. She knew Parker wasn't a child, but the mentality of a child was just as bad as being a child and she wasn't sure how her answer would affect her.

"I'm terrified, Parker." She replied honestly and sighed. "Mostly of dying alone," she nodded a bit.

Parker's breath hitched in her throat and she nodded slowly, "You won't die alone. You've got Eliot and me and Hardison and Tara here."

Sophie smiled, a few tears escaping, some from what she'd said and some from pain, "You're right." She nodded. She just didn't have Nate; the one she needed most.

She sighed a bit and whispered, "Get the nurse for me, Parker?" At this point, the pain in Sophie's body had become insufferable. Parker nodded and went to get a nurse just as Eliot came into the room holding a large lunch bag.

He came by every day, a few times a day to help look after her. He'd also taken it upon himself to cook for whatever she wished. It was his duty to make sure she got all of her nutrients in, which was also why he usually stopped by at least three times a day to bring her food or, depending on how she was feeling, just a smoothie. He confessed that he never was one to trust hospital food. "They'll put something in it and kill ya right on the spot and they could easily just blame your condition." - Was his reasoning behind it. Sophie could only shudder at the thought because he did have a point there. So, she let him.

Sophie was well aware that it was Eliot's way of coping with the situation; giving her the best thing he was good at. Eliot was putting every effort into every dish he made for her and it definitely showed. The two had a special, unspoken bond that only they understood. Eliot didn't bring up Nate because of how painful he knew it was for Sophie and she didn't bring it up either. They had silent conversations with their eyes, telling each other whatever was necessary that couldn't be spoken out loud.

It frustrated him; Nate was a damned idiot for pulling a stunt like this on Sophie. Naturally, Eliot's first instinct was to protect Sophie come hell or high waters. However, a part of him also understood why Nate might have done it. Not that it excused him abandoning his wife after being told he'd be losing her soon. He knew Nate didn't handle pain correctly _ever_. But he also knew that, no matter how well he knew Nate, he would never truly know what was going on in his head.

He smiled at Sophie slightly and asked her, "How you feelin'?"

Today was one of those days where Sophie was sure she would not be keeping anything in or down, so she only smiled very weakly before she winced and whimpered a bit at the shooting pain in her body. Eliot frowned, "How bad's the pain?"

Sophie bit down on her lip and whispered, "Bad enough... Parker went to get the nurse,..."

He raised a brow, "Parker's still here?" He knew that the thief was coming to visit Sophie, but he also understood that she only would stay for a few minutes and then leave.

The grifter managed another smile, barely, and nodded, "She's been here since the morning. We've been watching TV. She bought me balloons." Her eyes shone as she weakly nodded over to the group of balloons in the corner of the room.

She hadn't noticed it until now though... She'd gotten her every kind of balloon. Some said "Congratulations", others said: "Get Well Soon!", some with "Happy Birthday" on them and a few with: "It's a Girl!" "It's a Boy!" and such on them. This made Sophie laugh, it really did, despite the pain. Really, her family was irreplaceable. Eliot watched her and chuckled as well, "You in the mood to eat? I made you some beef broth with carrots and potatoes in it, but if you don't want that, I also made you a smoothie, I know you haven't been eating lately, but ya gotta try, Soph." The gentle tone that his voice carried was one someone wouldn't expect from such a tough guy like Eliot. But Sophie saw past his strong exterior.

"I can try... Before they give me something for the pain and put me to sleep for the next few weeks," she chuckled at the over-exaggeration and tried to sit up.

Eliot moved over and helped her up, as Parker came in with the nurse. "She's in pain," Parker said quickly to Anna.

Anna gave her a small smile and squeezed Parker's hand, "I'm sure we can fix that."

Eliot took a step back and let the nurse look Sophie over. He took the time to set up Sophie's food on the tray table by her bed. He usually brought enough food for him and Sophie, he often ate with her so she wouldn't eat alone. He was glad he'd packed extra, that way the three of them could eat together. Anna spoke lowly to Sophie, who only nodded at whatever she was saying before Anna declared, "I'll get the doctor when you're finished eating."

Sophie nodded to the Scottish woman and gave her a small smile, "Thank you, Anna."

Anna nodded and left. Parker looked at Sophie, "Doctor?"

"It's just routine, Parker. They just want to make sure that the pain medicine is working right," Eliot said quickly, trying to put her fears to rest.

Parker sighed a bit, "Oh, okay. Did the medicine help?"

She looked back at Sophie, who shook her head, "No, they'll be giving me something once I eat."

Parker seemed satisfied with this and nodded, "Alright... What's for lunch... Or dinner?" She looked hopeful at Eliot.

After eating, the doctor came by and began an examination, making Eliot and Parker have to wait outside. Sophie knew that at this point, it was merely palliative treatment that they were giving her; treating the symptoms rather than the disease itself. She also understood that there was just nothing they could do for her at this point but administer pain medicine, something for her appetite and something for the nausea. Eliot's broth had done her some good, she was looking a bit better after having eaten. He'd pushed her slightly and she was able to drink some of the smoothie as well without throwing it up, so today was considered a good day in her book. The doctor upped her pain medication, asked her how she was feeling. Sophie had to admit it was a rather ironic question, but she didn't say that out loud. She gave her usual, "I'm feeling just fine" and that was all. Dr. Gertude promised to come by in a bit to check on her.

Sophie asked him to tell her friends to give her five minutes before they came back in and she laid there for a moment, trying to keep herself composed. She hated the feelings that often overwhelmed her. Feelings from the situation itself, emotions over the pain she was causing and a part of her just wanted it all to just end, and that made her feel guilty. Night was falling quickly; another day gone by without Nate by her side and her heart grew heavier than the night before.

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**Also, if there's anything you'd like to see in the story, -besides Nate's return because that is already planned, lol!- feel free to leave it in a review or PM; I'm open to ideas. **


	4. Chapter 4

**I know, I know and I'm really sorry! I know it's been just three days short of a month since I last updated! Time, my muse and my health got away from me and left me stranded in the land of Writer's Block and Busy-ness. Please forgive me! **

**Here we are though. I hope you enjoy. Hopefully, HOPEFULLY, you won't have to wait too long for your next update. Leslie, this is for you, my dear stalker; your abilities are greatly appreciated!**

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As they waited in the waiting room, Tara joined them. Tara usually spent the night with Sophie. She knew that nights were hardest, so the last thing she wanted was for Sophie to spend them alone. Tara frowned when she entered the waiting room to find Eliot standing there with an arm around a clearly scared Parker. "What's going on?" She asked instantly as she removed her leather jacket.

Eliot rubbed his face with his free hand, "Hey... Nothin'... Soph was in some pain, Parker got the doctor and he's in with her right now, we're just waiting out here for them to finish."

"The pain medicine isn't working?" Tara asked a question that was easily obvious, but right now her mind was reeling. The medicine they were giving her for the pain used to dope Sophie up to the point where she'd spent a large amount of her time sleeping and rather numb, and now, just six weeks later it barely had any effect on her?

"I guess not," Eliot replied sadly.

Tara shook her head, "Eliot, she's.. Declining..." Tara whispered lowly.

Eliot nodded again, sitting down on one of the waiting room chairs and put his head in his hands. Parker watched the two, her heart beating faster than it already had been, "She's not going to die, right?"

Tara bit her lip and took a breath. Eliot shook his head slightly, "Parke-"

"No. You said everything was going to be okay. When she told us, you told us that... That everything was going to be fine, Eliot. Thi-this isn't fine, Eliot! Sophie's going to die and we're just going to stand here? This isn't okay. This is all right, Eliot! This isn't fine! This isn't... This..." Parker dissolved slowly and Tara held her close almost instantly because she was bottling up everything Parker was letting out.

Eliot cursed himself inwardly for making a promise he should have known he wouldn't be able to keep.

Tara carefully had Parker sit, "Parker, everything is going to be fine, okay?"

"Sh-She's going to die," Parker muttered, staring off. "This isn't fair."

"No, you're right, it's not fair," Tara agreed lowly, holding onto Parker's hands. "But Sophie's strong..."

"She doesn't look very strong right now," Parker whispered.

"That's true. That's why we need to be strong for her, Parker. Until she's able to be strong for herself, we have to be strong for her. We need to give her a reason to keep going because we don't know what could happen. We could very easily lose Sophie, but let's not throw in the towel just yet, okay? We can't fall apart now. Not when she needs us most, okay?"

"Nate should be here," Parker spoke the words that were on Eliot and Tara's minds as well.

Eliot couldn't help the instinctive scowl that appeared on his face. Tara swallowed and gave him a look.

Tara took a breath and said, "People handle things a lot more different than others. He just needs some time. He'll come around."

Since when was she such an optimist?

"Time isn't something we have," Parker reminded her.

Tara opened her mouth to reply when the doctor came back out and gave them a sad smile. He had become rather acquainted with the group, though he couldn't get all of their relations to each other straight. He walked over to them and said, "You can go back in now."

Eliot nodded, "Thanks, doc." He shook the older man's hand and watched him leave.

Tara looked at Eliot and they began walking toward Sophie's room again. Tara plastered a soft smile on her face and nudged for Eliot to do the same. They both did and Parker to the hint to follow in suit. "Has she eaten?" Tara whispered to Eliot. He simply nodded his response.

"Think she'd want a cookie?" Parker wondered suddenly as they walked inside.

Sophie turned to the sound of their voices after quickly having wiped her face. She smiled softly, "You're here," she said to Tara and then she looked at Parker, "I'd love a cookie, Parker."

"You shouldn't eat that junk," Eliot made a face.

Parker grinned, "We'll find an organic one, Angry-face," she said to Eliot.

Eliot grunted a bit, "I'm not angry."

"Well, your face is. C'mon, let's go get Sophie a cookie." Parker began dragging him back out of the room.

Eliot nodded at Tara who nodded back and smiled a bit.

Once the two had left, Tara turned back to Sophie who was eyeing her with a slight smirk. Tara raised a brow at her, "Yes...?"

"You know, I'd like for you to tell him how you feel about him before I die," Sophie replied with a small chuckle because she really, really couldn't help it. She attempted to sit up a bit.

Tara's face fell, "Don't joke like that."

"What? It's true! You've waited long enough!" Even in her weak state her voice still reached that very high frequency of a squeak.

Tara shook her head, "We both have other things to worry about; much bigger things to worry about. Like you," she said and sat down beside Sophie on the bed and took her hand.

The brunette shook her head, "Tara, let's be honest here, alright? The world isn't going to come to a grinding halt because I die. You all shouldn't stop living your lives just for me either. Though, I would really hate to flatter myself by thinking that it would."

"Sophie, it will come to a grinding halt and you know it. Parker has a near panic attack every time she thinks about you dying and her not being there. Last night, I stayed at the office late, you know where I found her? She was curled up on your side of the bed holding your favorite shirt saying that it smelled like you. She may look like an adult, but that is a terrified little girl in there who thinks she's about to lose another mother. And Eliot... He..."

Tara took a breath, "He looks put together but he's just as much at fault as Parker is. He bottles it all up and thinks we don't notice when he spends hours and hours at the gym beating the hell out of a punching bag, or the fact that he's ripped through four in the last six weeks." Her voice cracked a bit, "And then there's Hardison, and he's taken it upon himself to find Nate and he's running around like a chicken without a head. Two days ago I finally unplugged his computer system and made him go and get some sleep because I was pretty sure I saw his brain melting and coming out of his ears..." She bit her lip, "They need you, Sophie and their lives will come to a halt when you die and they will shatter because you mean that much to them and I... I don't know if I'll be strong enough to pick up the pieces when that happens because losing you will be… By far, one of the worst things I'll ever have to endure," Tara whispered, a few tears falling.

Sophie swallowed and shakily whispered as she squeezed Tara's hand, "You'll have each other. I have more than enough faith that you will all be perfectly fine."

Tara shook her head slightly, looking away and replied in a low tone, "It won't be the same though."

"You'll be fine though," Sophie forced a smile and then whispered, "Anything on Nate yet?" It almost... No, it did hurt her physically to ask.

Tara shook her head sadly. She hated being the bearer of bad news, "Nothing yet. It's like he's fallen off the face of the Earth or something," she really couldn't help the bitter tone.

Sophie patted her hand, "It's okay... What if something happened to him, Tara?" Her heart dropped at the thought.

Tara shook her head, "Nothing's happened to him. I'm sure he's fine..." She wasn't sure if that was supposed to make Sophie feel better or not.

"I keep thinking," Sophie's voice trailed a bit, "What if I hadn't gotten sick? What if I... Hadn't gone to the doctors an-"

"Don't do that to yourself," Tara told her firmly, looking her straight in the eye. "Don't do that to yourself; play the "What if" game. It'll get you nowhere except to the land of Unanswered Questions and that place is just as terrible as this hospital room."

Sophie gave her a small smile, "This room isn't so bad. Not since Parker got me those balloons," she laughed slightly. The medicine had definitely numbed her if she'd managed a laugh.

Tara looked over to where Sophie was looking and chuckled. She hadn't noticed that. "She got you balloons? How'd she managed to steal those?"

Sophie bit her lip before grinning widely and shakily reaching over to a small slip of paper on her nightstand. "Our little girl's growing up. She bought them. Here's the receipt," she handed it to Tara.

"She's grown with all of us, you know. Might sound ridiculous to everyone else. She was an adult when we met her, but there was a child in there that needed what we gave her, a family. And now look at her, practically becoming the adult she looks like," Sophie smiled fondly at this thought.

Tara tried to swallow past the knot in her throat, "That's why you need to hold on long enough for her to become that age. So you can look at her and tell her how proud you are of her. You can't do that if you decide to just give up now."

Sophie didn't need to say it. Tara simply knew from the look in her eyes that she was ready to give up. That she was simply tired of fighting, but Tara refused to give into her. Sophie needed to hang on because Tara knew; she had a gut feeling that Sophie could make it past this. Considering everything they'd both been through in there checkered past as grifters, this should have been a walk in the park. She knew that it wasn't because she didn't have her true rock there with her. She didn't have Nate.

Tara would never forgive him for that.


End file.
